Celebrate National Wildlife Refuge Week

MEMPHIS, Tenn., October 12, 2006 – America’s incredible national wildlife refuge system is the focus this week as DU-TV and Ducks Unlimited WaterDog feature a duck hunt on Cache National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) in Arkansas and a goose hunt on Bombay Hook NWR in Delaware. This week the nation is celebrating National Wildlife Refuge Week. The shows will air Saturday (DU-TV, 7:30 AM-EST) and Sunday mornings (DU WaterDog, 11:00 AM-EST), respectively, on the Versus network.

The Arkansas episode of DU-TV features the role duck hunters played in conserving and helping purchase the land that is now Cache River NWR in east Arkansas. Cache River NWR made world news in April 2005 when the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service announced that the ivory-billed woodpecker – at the time thought to be extinct – had been rediscovered in the refuge. Funds from the Federal Duck Stamp that duck hunters purchase to hunt waterfowl paid for the refuge.

The Delaware episode of DU WaterDog features a Canada goose hunt for handicapped hunters on Bombay Hook NWR. The hunt, put on by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and the National Wild Turkey Federation’s “Wheelin’ Sportsmen” program brought partners, volunteers and wheelchair-limited hunters together in a touching way.

All of the action is part of Ducks Unlimited’s three-week celebration of both the Federal Duck Stamp Art Contest, which was held in Memphis, Tenn. Sept. 25 – Oct. 7, and this week’s celebration of National Wildlife Refuge Week.

The sale of Federal Duck Stamps raises approximately $25 million each year to fund waterfowl habitat acquisition for the National Wildlife Refuge System. The Federal Duck Stamp Contest is sponsored each year by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

All waterfowl hunters age 16 and older are required to purchase and carry Duck Stamps. Ninety-eight percent of the proceeds from the $15 Duck Stamp go into the Migratory Bird Conservation Fund, which purchases wetlands for the National Wildlife Refuge System.

There are more than 545 National Wildlife Refuges spread across all 50 states and U.S. territories, and a valid Duck Stamp allows for free admission to any refuge open to the public. Refuges offer unparalleled recreation opportunities, including hunting, fishing, bird-watching and photography. Duck stamp dollars have helped acquire land at hundreds of refuges in nearly every state in the nation.

With more than a million supporters, Ducks Unlimited is the world’s largest and most effective wetland and waterfowl conservation organization. The United States alone has lost more than half of its original wetlands - nature’s most productive ecosystem - and continues to lose more than 80,000 wetland acres each year.

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